Process for preparation of stiffening material



Patented Jan. 5, 1943 PROCESS FOR PREPARATION OF STIFFEN- ING MATERIAL William Whitehead, Rye, N. Y., assignor to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application November 5,1940,

Serial No. 364,415

a Claims.

This invention relates to the production of textile fabric, and relates more particularly to the production of stiff textile fabrics suitable for use in the manufacture of wearing apparel.

In the manufacture of clothing, for example, coats, overcoats and the like,'each forward or front section thereof contains what is known as an inner front which comprises one or more layers of a stiffening material such as hair cloth. These inner fronts of hair-cloth were a source of difficulty since they had a tendency to slip after the garment was worn for some time. Moreover, when the garments were dry-cleaned or washed, the hair-cloth lost its stiffness thus causing the garments to lose their original appearance and shape. Furthermore, the haircloth itself was unsatisfactorylsince the individual hairs thereof often became loose and worked their way out of the garment thus reducing the efllcacy of the hair cloth as a stiffening material.

It is accordingly an important object of this invention to provide an improved stiffening material which will be free from the above-mentioned and other disadvantages.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved fabric which will not only serve as a stiffening material for garments but which will also possess adhesive qualities and maintain the porosity essential to the comfort of the wearer when the fabric is employed in the manufacture of garments.

A further object ofthis invention is the provision of a hair-cloth of natural or artificial horsehair and non-thermoplastic and thermo- I plastic fibers of filaments in which the horsehair constituent is firmly and substantially permaovercoats and like garments is made by weaving a fabric from non-thermoplastic and thermoplastic yarns or threads with natural or 'arti ficial horsehair. Preferably the fabric is formed by inserting a weft of horsehair in a warp of c'otton and thermoplastic yarns or threads. The

fabric thus produced 15 plasticized in any desired manner.

The thermoplastic yarns or threads employed in the warp of the fabric may be made of or contain any suitable thermoplastic material such 55 threads. The horsehair constituents may be either natural horsehair or artificial horsehair, the artificial horsehair being of any suitable synthetic material such as, for example, regenerated cellulose, cellulose esters or ethers, or synthetic resins.

In one mode of carrying .out my invention the fabric, made by inserting a weft of horsehair in a warp of cellulose ester yarns or threads alternating with cotton yarns or threads, is treated with a substance tending to give the potential adhesive properties. Substances which I have found to be particularly suitable for this purpose are methyl methoxy ethyl phthalate, dimethoxy ethyl phthalate, dimethyl phthalate and diethyl phthalate. However, any other suitable plasticizer may be employed such as, for example, the aryl sulphonamides such as para ethyl toluene sulphonamide, the dialkyl tartrates such 4 erablyv 90%, based on the weight of the organic derivative of cellulose present, give excellent results in the production of stiffening material suitable for use in the manufacture ofv garments wherein it will effect a laminating and bonding of the fabrics thereof, v e

The plasticizer is preferably applied by dipping the fabric into a solution of the plasticizer in a volatile solvent therefor. -Any suitable volatile solvent may be employed such as, for example, alcohol, benzene or ethylene dichloride. The solution of plasticizer may also be applied to the fabric by brushing, spraying or padding. After the fabric is treated with the solution of plasticizeiflthe fabric may be passed through nip r011- ers to remove the excess of solution and dried. The fabric is then aged, for a period of time, preferably at an elevated temperature, passed through a pad mangle, one roller of which dips in an alcohol bath, to remove the excess plasticizer, dried and aged again for a shorter period of time at an elevated temperature.

The following example is given merely as an illustration of the process of this invention and is not to be considered as being in any way limitative:

Example A fabric made by inserting a weft of natural horsehair in a warp comprising alternate two ends of cotton and one end of cellulose acetate yarn, the cellulose acetate content of the fabric being about 20%, is dipped into a solution containing 40 parts by weight of dimethoxy ethyl phthalate dissolved in 60 parts by weight of alcohol. The treated fabric is passed through nip rollers to remove the excess solution and then dried. The fabric is then aged for six days at 40% relative humidity at 50 C. After this ageing, the fabric is passed through a pad mangle,

one roller of which dips in an alcohol bath, and

aged for two days at 55% relative humidity at 1 to adhere to the other materials of the garment by means of heat and pressure. To obtain good adhesion and stiflfening properties, it is prefer able, to have water present during the application of heat and pressure, but it is to be understood that it is not essential to the successful working of this invention. Any aqueous liquid or steam may be applied in any suitable manner to the assembly of fabrics making up the garment. Thus, water may be applied by spraying or brushing the hair-cloth with water or by padding the same with water or by dipping the assembly of fabrics including the hair-cloth with water. If steam is employed, it may be inJected through the layers of the assembly of fabrics during the pressing operation in a manner similar to that where woolen fabrics are pressed,

Any suitable device may be employed for heat pressing the assembly to cause the adhesion of the hair cloth to the other fabrics. For in stance, the assembly may be pressed with hot irons, it may be passed between pressure rollers, one or both of which may be heated, or it may be pressed in a so-called body press employed in garment factories. The heating device may be heated to a temperature on the order of from 80? to 180 C. or more, and the pressure may be from 10 to 600 pounds or more per square inch.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration and that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patents is:

1. Process for the preparation of a stifiening material, which comprises impregnating a fabric containing a warp of non-thermoplastic yarns and thermoplastic yarns and a weft of natural horsehair with a solution of plasticizer for the thermoplastic material in a volatile solvent therefor, drying and ageing the treated fabric for 6 days, then washing the plasticized fabric to remove excess plasticizer therefrom and again drying and ageing the fabric for two days.

2. Process for the preparation of a stiffening material, which comprises impregnating a fabric containing a warp of cotton yarns and thermoplastic organic derivative of cellulose yarns and a weft of natural horsehair with a solution of plasticizer for the thermoplastic organic derivative of cellulose in a volatile solvent therefor, drying and ageing the treated fabric for 6 days, then washing the plasticized fabric to remove excess plasticizer therefrom and again drying and ageing the fabric for 2 days.

3. Process for the preparation of a stiffening material, which comprises impregnating a fabric containing a warp of cotton yarns and cellulose acetate yarns and a weft of natural horsehair with a solution of plasticizer for the cellulose acetate in a volatile solvent therefor, drying and ageing the treated fabric for 6 days, then washing the plasticized fabric to remove excess plasticizer therefrom and again drying and ageing the fabric for 2 days.

4. Process for the preparation of a stiffening material, which comprises impregnating a fabric containing a warp of cotton yarns and thermoplastic yarns and a weft of natural horsehair with a solution of plasticizer for the thermoplastic material in a volatile solvent therefor, drying and ageing the treated fabric for 6 days, then washing the plasticized fabric with alcohol to remove excess plasticizer therefrom and again drying and ageing the fabric for 2 days.

5. Process for the preparation of a stifiening material, which comprises impregnating a fabric containing a warp of cotton yarns and cellulose acetate yarns and a weft of natural horsehair with a solution of plasticizer for the cellulose acetate in a volatile solvent therefor, drying the fabric, ageing the treated fabric for six days, then washing the plasticized fabric with alcohol to remove excess plasticizer therefrom, drying tine fabric and again ageing the fabric for two ays.

-6. Process for the preparation of a stiffening material, w ich comprises impregnating a fabric containing warp of cotton yarns and cellulose acetate. s and a weft of natural horsehair with a solution of plasticizer for the cellulose acetate in a volatile solvent therefor, drying the fabric, ageing the treated fabric for six days at cess plasticizer therefrom, drying the fabric and again ageing the fabric for two days at 55% relative humidity at 50 C.

' WILLIAM 

